High School, Drugs, Dogs And More

If I was in school today I know someone would have prescribed some type of drug for me because by the time I reached high school I was in the running for most detentions and in school suspensions.

The “experts” discovered that my brain wasn’t wired correctly and today I would probably have a label like ADHD.

Because I was such a bonehead in school I became very introverted and had difficulty asking questions and participating in any activities. Some teachers and students were not so nice when you asked what seemed like a stupid question.

But it’s all good. I soldiered on and was eventually put into a program with some truly wonderful teachers and was able to get a diploma.

I share this because when you train a dog you have to understand how the learning process happens. When you start training a dog, the early stages should be as reward based and positive as possible.

If you get heavy handed early on your dog will become inhibited and nervous about training. This is when your dog will start to shut down making it extremely difficult to teach any behaviors.

You really should “set your dog up for success” when you start.

Negative consequences should be kept to a minimum. The word NO isn’t really used when you start training.

The words I use are “YES,” “Good,” and “Wrong” to communicate to the dog. I do use and teach the word NO but it is used to stop behaviors.

So let’s clear this up. To teach behaviors (sit, down, stay,etc.) you use rewards and set the dog up for success.

To STOP behaviors (jumping, chewing, biting, barking, etc) you teach and use the word NO.

This has been labeled “Balanced Training.” (Why does everything have a label nowadays?) But it really is NOT balanced training. When you use the training system I use and teach you spend about 95% of your time rewarding and only about 5% of the time using a negative consequence.

Doesn’t balanced mean 50/50?

Anyway, don’t worry about labels. You only need to be concerned with RESULTS!

And results is what The Dog Training Inner Circle is all about. One great benefit of the Inner Circle is the forum where you can ask questions and you can be rest assured you NEVER have to worry about asking any questions.

The LAST thing I would ever do is belittle, judge or make fun of anyone asking questions.